NSF Award
2412361
This award funds the research activities of Professors Marc Kamionkowski, David E. Kaplan. Surjeet Rajendran, and Ibrahima Bah at Johns Hopkins University. <br/><br/>The quest to understand the fundamental laws of physics is at an important nexus. While we await the discovery of new physics at accelerator experiments and ongoing dark-matter searches, existing null results have forced theorists to discard long-held theoretical preferences and think deeply about entirely new ideas for fundamental physics and novel experimental techniques to test these new ideas. This effort is also advanced by the development of new mathematical tools to help understand the structure of the theories from which our models of fundamental physics are constructed. The effort is now also advanced by exciting new discoveries in cosmology and astrophysics. The JHU particle-theory group tackles central problems at the juncture of theory and experiment in particle physics and cosmology and in the formal mathematical tools that are the foundation of physical theories. This group will advance new ideas for cosmological observations and fundamental-physics searches and propose new mechanisms and models that may ultimately help in the grand synthesis of nature's laws. The research will proceed in parallel with the training of students and postdocs who will evolve to become scientific leaders, and the group will remain vigorous in its quest to communicate the excitement of particle physics and cosmology to the general public. Theoretial research along these lines advances the national interest by optimizing our investment in major experimental facilities in their quest to understand new physical laws.<br/><br/>More specifically, Profs. Kaplan and Rajendran will develop new non-accelerator directions for exploring the fundamental laws of nature while pushing to pursue a deeper understanding of the phenomena we see. Rajendran will do related work on new ideas for the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. Kamionkowski proposes to develop a suite of new early-Universe probes with forthcoming observations, and to study novel models to account for the Hubble tension. Bah proposes work in geometric engineering of QFTs and in the study of a new class of “topological stars” and their possible phenomenological consequences. There is much overlap between the boundaries of the research interests of the group members, and novel ideas will emerge from collaborations that emerge from these intersections.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
